Tezz has many of the ingredients for an engaging, fast-paced thriller. What it needed was a director to assemble its parts and make them work. Alas, Priyadarshan is content with merely filming.

Produced by the Children’s Film Society of India, Gattu won a special mention at the Berlin International Film Festival in February this year. It’s the kind of charming film that’ll feature on critics’ year-end lists of movies you should have watched but probably didn’t. Do yourself a favor – don’t miss it.

‘Bittoo Boss’ is an enjoyable enough ride until it goes off-track. Of the cast, it’s Ashok Pathak in the role of scrawny Shimla cab-driver Bikki who steals the film with his manic energy. Pulkit Samrat gives a confident turn as Bittoo, despite the Ranvir Singh-Band Baaja Baarat hangover that you can’t shake off. Samrat balances the character’s vulnerability and cockiness competently.

Housefull 2 is for four-year-olds who don’t know any better. For anyone with taste, or anyone seeking genuine laughs, there’s nothing here. I’m going with one out of five for director Sajid Khan’s Housefull 2. I’d rather watch reruns of his TV shows instead; they were pure gold compared to this drivel!

Like the character played by Tom Cruise in the 1993 thriller ‘The Firm’, from which ‘Blood Money’ is so clearly inspired, our hero is seduced by the lure of the new lifestyle that his job affords him. But when he stumbles upon the truth that his bosses are engaged in sinister businesses involving illegal trading, mafia funding, and murder, he must ask himself if he’s comfortable living off such ill-gotten gains.

Most gobsmacking brilliant portion of Agent Vinod is a roughly 3-minute shootout scene set in a seedy East European motel. Even as bullets fly in the lobby between RAW-agent Vinod (Saif Ali Khan) and deadly assassins hot on his trail, a love ballad drowns out the gunshots. The action is captured almost poetically, as Vinod and his accomplice run in and out of corridors and motel rooms, dodging the firing. Now imagine all this in a single tracking shot!

Dumb, offensive, and unfunny in equal measure, ‘Chaar Din Ki Chandni’ has no merits whatsoever, including its singularly unappealing cast, some of whom (Anita Raaj, Chandrachur Singh, Mukul Dev) seem to have been pulled out of cold-storage to make fools of themselves here. Particularly insensitive to Sikhs and gays, this exhausting film saps you of your energy, and your will to visit the cinema again anytime soon.

In the end, ‘Kahaani’ feels longer than its 115 minutes running time, partly because there is no escape from its gritty tone. Yet the suspense remains consistently tight, and the story well-executed. A word also for the haunting background score that only adds to the mood of the film. I’m going with three-and-a-half out of five for director Sujoy Ghosh’s ‘Kahaani’. The film delivers on its promise, and keeps you guessing until the end. It’s a delicious thriller – don’t miss it.

The film itself cruises along inoffensively despite the potholes, clocking in at a crisp 100 minutes, and is aided by some snazzy camerawork and hummable songs. I’m going with three out of five for writer-director Anu Menon’s ‘London Paris New York’. The charismatic actors rise above the flawed script to deliver an easy, enjoyable evening at the movies. Watch it for its freshness; you won’t be bored.

Despite an interesting premise, the film doesn’t work because its characters inspire no affection. I’m going with one-and-a-half out of five for director Ashwini Chaudhary’s ‘Jodi Breakers’. Feast your eyes on the stunning Greece locales; it’s the only pleasure this film provides.